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JAY-Z, Trevor Noah and Katy Perry are among celebrities investing in plant-based burger company Impossible Foods

Impossible Foods, the company that makes plant-based patties that taste like meaty burgers, is luring in celebrity backers. (Nati Harnik/AP)

A-listers are lining up to back plant-based burgers designed to taste like meat.

JAY-Z, Trevor Noah and Katy Perry are among the celebrities who invested in Impossible Foods, the company announced Monday while revealing that recent efforts raised another $300 million. Other investors include Serena Williams, will.i.am and Questlove.

The brand is best known for its Impossible Burger, which is made with soy and potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and heme, or soy leghemoglobin — which is the molecule that makes meat taste like meat. Last month, Burger King announced it will sell its Impossible Whopper nationwide by the end of the year after a successful test run in Missouri, and chains like White Castle and Wahlburgers already sell their own versions of the Impossible Burger.

“We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand,” David Lee, chief financial officer for Impossible Foods, said in a statement. “Our global financial partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the global food system.”

The burger started debuting at restaurants in 2016.

The Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant-based meat and other products, applauded the fund-raising efforts.

“Impossible Foods has just brought in the largest fund-raising round for a plant-based meat company in history,” Good Food Institute Executive Director Bruce Friedrich said in a statement. "This comes just a few weeks after Beyond Meat raised roughly $240 million in its IPO before the company’s stock shot up by 163 percent in one day.

“The success of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat is proof that plant-based meat has arrived," he added. “With these two companies now valued in the billions of dollars, it’s clear that the plant-based meat market is both hot and here to stay. Impossible and Beyond both have a vision of a meat market that puts healthier and more sustainable products in front of consumers."